Former DU great Adam Berkoel returns to Hilltop as equipment rep

Former DU goalie Adam Berkhoel, who led the Pios to the 2004 NCAA championship, was working outside the Murray A. Armstrong Hockey Complex on Wednesday as a player’s rep for Vaughn, the popular goalie equipment manufacturer. I took this picture of Berkheol between freshman goalie Sam Brittain (left) and sophomore goalie Adam Murray. Berkhoel hung up the skates in April after finishing the season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. He played nine games in the NHL, going 2-4-1 for the Atlanta Thrashers in 2005-06. I’ll never forget when he beat the New Jersey Devils that season, and Martin Brodeur said afterward: “Their little goalie played well.”

That little goalie was named 2004 USA Hockey college player of the year after a surreal postseason. Following CC’s shocking first-round WCHA playoff sweep over DU at Magness Arena, Berkhoel and the Pios beat Miami 3-2 and North Dakota 1-0 at the West Regional in Colorado Springs, then 5-3 and 1-0 over Minnesota-Duluth and Maine, respectively, at the Frozen Four in Boston. What a trip.

“It was time to move on,” Berkhoel, 29, said of his professional hockey retirement. “I played pro six years, and was able to play in the NHL. It was time. This job came about, and this is a way to stay involved, a way to stay in the game.”

Berkhoel said he used Vaughn equipment in the pros, working with Scott Hughes, and Hughes was the only college/pro U.S. rep with the company. “And my wife is from Michigan, and the (Vaughn) factory is literally 10 minutes down the road. The last three summers, I’ve gone to the factory and done a step-by-step process to inspect all my gear, and really got a first-hand look at what goes on, and I really respect the quality of Vaughn. When (Hughes) said a job was available, it just worked out. My wife wanted to be close to family.”

The Berkhoels live in Romeo, just north of Detroit, and the factory is in Oxford. “We want to be back in Denver; it’s our first choice,” Berkhoel said.

Adam Berkhoel’s performance in the 2004 NCAA Championship Game was nothing short of legendary.

6 on 3 for the last 90+ seconds of the game. No goals. DU wins. Freaking unbelievable.

While it’s unfortunate that a long career in The Show wasn’t in the cards for him, I’m glad he’s stuck close to the game and that he’s doing something he loves. Thanks for the update…and for the great trip down memory lane, Mike!

Ring_of_Fire

Adam Berkhoel’s performance in the 2004 NCAA Championship Game was nothing short of legendary.

6 on 3 for the last 90+ seconds of the game. No goals. DU wins. Freaking unbelievable.

While it’s unfortunate that a long career in The Show wasn’t in the cards for him, I’m glad he’s stuck close to the game and that he’s doing something he loves. Thanks for the update…and for the great trip down memory lane, Mike!